Italian conductor Christian Capocaccia continues to distinguish himself as an artist of keen insight and musicianship. His ease on the podium and comfortable coaching style with singers throughout each season have made him a favourite with orchestras, opera companies and vocalists alike.
Mr. Capocaccia was recently appointed Music Director of the Stamford Young Artists Philharmonic in Connecticut, and will commence his duties at the beginning of the 2012/13 season. In September 2012, Mr. Capocaccia will lead performances of Donizetti’s I Capuleti e I Montecchi with AsLiCo (Associazione Lirica e Concertistica Italiana). In October, he returns to the Dallas Opera for performances of Bizet’s Dr. Miracle, his first production with the company since leaving in 2011.
In the 11/12 season Mr. Capocaccia coached emerging vocalists at the 10th International Opera Program of Artescénica in Torreón and Saltillo, Mexico. Later on in the season he led Manhattan School of Music’s Opera Scenes production, with director Richard Gammon. In the Spring, Mr. Capocaccia was called upon to fill in last minute for rehearsals of Golijov’s La Pasión según San Marcos for the Argentine premiere of the piece at the Teatro Colon, learning the piece overnight.
2011 saw the conclusion of three years as assistant conductor with the Dallas Opera, under Graham Jenkins. In the 10/11 season, Mr. Capocaccia made his Winspear Opera House debut conducting the Dallas Opera Orchestra and guest singers in a program of opera highlights, in addition to assisting on productions of Don Giovanni, Roméo et Juliette and Rigoletto.
In July and August 2009, Mr. Capocaccia was a resident conductor at the Fischer Center at Bard College, assisting in a production of Les Huguenots, and four performances of two separate Wagner programmes with the American Symphony Orchestra. In summer 2008 he attended The Aspen Music Festival as a conducting fellow, where he was assigned as a cover conductor for the production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola, and conducted many concerts under the supervision of David Zinman and Murry Sidlin.
His former positions include assistant conductor and Italian diction coach at the Indiana University Opera Theatre, assistant conductor of the IU New Music Ensemble, and assistant conductor and assistant professor of conducting at the State University of New York College at Fredonia.
As a guest conductor he appears both in the United States and in Europe in venues such as the New Auditorium “Parco della Musica” and the Teatro Farnese in Rome and the Lyric Opera House of Baltimore at the head of the Orchestra di Roma e del Lazio, The Moscow Ballet Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica Città di Grosseto, Orchestra Città Aperta, International Chamber Ensemble, Orchestra da Camera delle Marche and Orchestra Sinfonica di Pesaro among others.
Born in Rome, he began studying the violin at the age of 9. He attended the Santa Cecilia Music Conservatory, earning his Diploma under Paolo Ciociola and completed his studies with world-renowned violinist Nina Beilina in New York. Subsequently he studied composition under Boris Porena and Luciano Pelosi, and conducting with Piero Bellugi and Donato Renzetti. A graduate of Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington under David Effron he has participated in Master classes with Herbert Blomstedt, Gustav Meier and Leonard Slatkin.
In July 2002, he was invited to conduct at the Euro Mediterranean Festival in Rome and, subsequently, made his debut conducting the Orchestra di Roma e del Lazio.
Capocaccia made his official debut as a conductor in 1997 conducting the inaugural concert of the first edition of the “Festival Mundi” at Valle Giulia in Rome.
In 1998, he conducted the “Escher” Ensemble in the second edition of the “Festival Mundi,” as well as the International Chamber Ensemble in Rome’s All Saints Church. Particularly noted were the performances of Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor (June 2001) and the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture by Tchaikovsky (June 2002) both given in Florence at the Church of Santo Stefano on the Ponte Vecchio with the “Florence Symphonietta” Orchestra.
